After the declaration by ISIS of a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, fighting resumed in Tikrit between Iraqi government forces and the Islamic terrorists. The Iraqi air force launched air strikes against ISIS in the city, and reportedly hit Saddam Hussein’s old palace.
In other news, at the conclusion of a mass trial in Xinjiang, 113 people were sentenced to prison by the Chinese authorities on charges of terrorism.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Andrea Shea King, C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, JP, KP, Steen, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Inflation in Italy Down to 2009 Levels
Food prices drop 0.6%, biggest dip since 1997
(ANSA) — Rome, June 30 — Inflation in Italy was down to 0.3% in June compared to the same month last year, the lowest it has been since October 2009, provisional data from national statistics agency Istat showed Monday. In May it was 0.5%. The result caused prices on food and domestic goods in June to drop by 0.6% on the year, the biggest dip since September 1997, Istat said. Compared to May, prices on food and domestic products remained unchanged.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Producer Prices Fall 1.4 Percent Annually
(AGI) Rome, June 30 — Italian producer prices fell 1.4 percent year-on-year in May, and 0.1 percent monthly, reported national statistics office ISTAT. Prices of products sold on the domestic market fell 0.1 percent compared to April and 1.7 percent year-on-year. Producer prices, excluding energy, dropped 0.1 percent and were flat year-on-year.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Cochran Campaign Manager, Staffer Busted in Illegal Vote Buying Operation
by Charles C. Johnson and Joel S. Gilbert
Democrat black reverend, who brought “hundreds” to the polls for promise of payment, exposes alleged massive voter fraud, vote buying operation by Cochran campaign.
A black reverend stiffed by the Cochran campaign has exposed an alleged criminal conspiracy by Cochran staffers to commit massive voter fraud ahead of Tuesday’s controversial U.S. Senate Republican runoff election in Mississippi.
Reverend Stevie Fielder, associate pastor at historic First Union Missionary Baptist Church and former official at Meridian’s redevelopment agency, says he delivered “hundreds or even thousands,” of blacks to the polls after being offer money and being assured by a Cochran campaign operative that Chris McDaniel was a racist. “They [the Cochran campaign] told me to offer blacks fifteen dollars each and to vote for Thad.”
It is illegal under several provisions of Mississippi law and federal law for campaign officials to bribe voters with cash and punishable up to five years in jail. (MS Code 97-13-1; MS Code 97-13-3 (2013) (Federal Code 18 U.S.C. 597, U.S.C. 1973i(c)) Voter fraud schemes are not unusual for Mississippi. In 1999 Mississippi’s attorney general reported massive voter fraud allegations throughout the Palmetto state. In 2011, a Mississippi NAACP leader was sent to prison for voter fraud, according to the Daily Caller.
[…]
[NOTE to GoV readers: Attorney General Eric Holder is known to have actively politicized black voters in Mississippi, according to J. Christian Adams, a career government attorney who left his post there after Holder’s questionable tactics polarized the Department of Justice — D]
| — Hat tip: Andrea Shea King | [Return to headlines] |
G.M. To Offer at Least $1 Million for Each Ignition Switch Death
A $1 million starting point for each death anchors the formula to pay families of those who died in accidents caused by a defective ignition switch in General Motors cars, under a plan unveiled Monday by a compensation expert hired by the automaker.
The plan, announced by the expert, Kenneth R. Feinberg, is broad and inclusive, and seems certain to account for deaths beyond the 13 that G.M. has publicly linked to the defect.
There is no cap on the amount of money G.M. has agreed to spend on victims’ payments, Mr. Feinberg said, and the company will not invoke its protection from liabilities involving incidents before its July 10, 2009, bankruptcy restructuring agreement.
Under Mr. Feinberg’s formula, families of those who died are entitled to at least $1 million, and added to that will be a calculation of lifetime earnings lost as well as $300,000 for a spouse and for each dependent.
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G.M. Announces Worldwide Recall of 8.4 Million Vehicles
In a vast expansion of its safety crisis, General Motors recalled more than 8.4 million vehicles worldwide on Monday, bringing its total figures for the year above 28 million cars — more than the 22 million recalled last year by all of the automakers combined.
Among the recalled vehicles, G.M. said it was aware of seven crashes, eight injuries and three fatalities. About 8.2 million of the newly recalled cars have ignition defects that lead to inadvertent key rotation, and are models of the Cadillac CTS and SRX, and the Chevrolet Malibu, Monte Carlo and Impala, as well as the Oldsmobile Intrigue and Alero, and Pontiac Grand Am and Grand Prix. The model years range from 1997 to 2014.
Almost all of G.M.’s recalls have come since the automaker in February began recalling 2.6 million older Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars with a defective ignition switch that it has tied to at least 13 deaths and 54 crashes. Earlier Monday, Kenneth R. Feinberg, who was retained by G.M. to develop a victim compensation program, announced the provisions to deal with claims of injury and wrongful death.
Trading in G.M. stock was suspended on the New York Stock Exchange while the announcement was made.
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‘Honor’ Killings: A New Kind of American Tragedy
by Phyllis Chesler
A new kind of American tragedy is taking place in a Brooklyn Federal Courthouse.
Both the defendant, standing trial for conspiracy to commit murder abroad in Pakistan, and the main witness against him, his daughter Amina, wept when they first saw each other. Amina’s extended family stared at her with hostility. As she testified, Amina paused, hesitated, and sobbed. She and her father had been very close until he decided that she had become too “Americanized.”
This Pakistani-American father of five, a widower, worked seven days a week driving a cab in order to support his children; this included sending his daughter, Amina, to Brooklyn College.
This is a successful American immigrant story—and yet, it is also a unique and unprecedented story as well, one which demands that Western law prevail over murderously misogynistic tribal honor codes…
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Supreme Court Rules Family-Owned Corporations Are Not Required to Pay for Contraception Coverage
Requiring family-owned corporations to pay for insurance coverage for contraception violated a federal law protecting religious freedom, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5 to 4 decision on Monday.
The decision, which applied to two companies owned by Christian families, opened the door to challenges from other corporations to many laws that may be said to violate their religious liberty.
The coverage requirement was put in place under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. It was challenged by two corporations whose owners say they try to run their businesses on religious principles: Hobby Lobby, a chain of crafts stores, and Conestoga Wood Specialties, which makes wood cabinets.
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Baroness Ashton’s EU Diplomatic Service ‘Inadequate’ And ‘Beset’ With Problems
Bureaucratic in-fighting, red tape and missed meetings: EU auditors criticise Lady Ashton’s legacy
European Union auditors have highlighted continuing “weaknesses” in Europe’s diplomatic service and problems with Baroness Ashton’s track record in the post of high representative of foreign affairs…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Danes Want Swedes to Break ‘Spiral of Silence’
A new Danish radio programme hopes to get Swedes talking about taboo subjects. The Local spoke with host Mikael Jalving about the cultural divide between Denmark and Sweden when it comes to discussing social issues.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Clamps Down on Algeria Flags
After 70 arrests due to violence and looting last Thursday night, several of the European nation’s cities have taken steps to prevent a reoccurence after Les Fennecs meet Germany
Several major French cities have taken preventative measures in an attempt to thwart potential racial violence after Monday’s World Cup fixtures.
France meet Nigeria in the early kick-off before Germany face Algeria in the day’s other last-16 encounter…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Geert Wilders: The Terrorists Are Among US
Ten concrete measures to prevent Islamic terrorism in the Netherlands.
In several Western countries, the authorities are concerned about the security risk posed by young Muslim immigrants who went to Syria and Iraq to wage jihad and are now returning home. They are considered the most serious security risk in decades.
The risk is not just theoretical. Indeed, on May 24, Mehdi Nemmouche, a young Muslim with a French passport, went on a killing spree with a Kalashnikov assault rifle in the Jewish Museum in Brussels. He killed four people. Nemmouche had previously been in Syria, where he was trained in guerrilla warfare.
During the past three years, thousands of young Islamic immigrants from all Western countries, Europe, Australia, America and even Russia, have gone to fight in Syria, where they have committed the most horrible atrocities. Some of them were killed in action, while others have since returned home. They carry Western passports but they hate the West. They walk our streets as ticking time bombs, eager to cause as much havoc in our cities as they have caused in Syria.
The West cannot just sit idly by and wait for the next terror attack to happen. We must protect ourselves. If we do not, the barbaric scenes that play today in Syria and Iraq will soon be repeated in our countries. Ordinary people are well aware of the urgency of the problem. Last week, I proposed ten concrete measures to prevent Islamic terrorism in the Netherlands. A poll showed that a large majority of the Dutch support the plan.
The first measure I proposed was (1) automatically to strip immigrants with dual nationalities of their Dutch passports if they leave our country to fight for Islam in Syria. This way, they will not be allowed back into our country. Britain already uses such legislation. Last December, the British authorities stripped 20 people with dual nationality of their British nationality because they had traveled to Syria to fight. As Theresa May, the British Home Secretary, rightly declared: “Citizenship is a privilege, not a right.”
I also proposed (2) the immediate administrative detention of those fighters who have already returned, as well as (3) the reintroduction of border controls and (4) a halt to immigration of people from Islamic countries. International treaties prohibiting these measures should either be modified or terminated.
Another measure is (5) the encouragement of voluntary repatriation of people originating from Islamic countries. A survey shows that 73% of Dutch Muslims regard fighters in Syria as heroes. Such attitudes do not belong in the Netherlands. We should also (6) deal severely with the supporters of the fighters in Syria. Mosques, Islamic schools and other organizations that provide financial or other support to those who go to fight in Syria must be closed down immediately.
And we should (7) spend more money on security. Money that is currently being wasted on development aid would better be spent on the AIVD (the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service).
Finally, there are three measures with an international rather than a domestic impact. We should (8) stop Dutch military intervention in the Islamic world and focus on the protection of the Netherlands. We should (9) support Israel and stimulate economic relations with the Jewish state. Israel is the front line in the fight against jihad. If Israel falls, the West falls. And (10) we should break diplomatic relations with countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, that support terrorist groups such as ISIS
The proposals were well received by the public. An opinion poll this week showed that 82 per cent of the Dutch believe that jihadists returning from Syria and Iraq increase the risk of an attack in the Netherlands. 76 per cent favor stripping jihadists of their Dutch nationality, 67 per cent want to introduce border controls to prevent them from returning, and 75 per cent want additional manpower for the AIVD. 65 per cent of all Dutch believe that Islamic culture does not belong in the Netherlands. Even a majority of the voters of Labour and the far-left Socialist Party share this opinion.
There is an acute awareness among the Dutch that in order to have a safer Netherlands we need to exclude jihadists from our society. We have become so indoctrinated with political correctness that we might consider this as wonderful and surprising news, although it is just plain common sense. Those who travel abroad to kill people for the sake of Islam should not be allowed to walk our streets again.
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Italy: Former Finmeccanica President Under House Arrest
(AGI) Naples, June 30 — Former Finmeccanica president, Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, has been put under house arrest. He was arrested on allegations of managing slush funds and contract-rigging in tendering for the SISTRI waste tracking system after an investigation by the Naples Anti-Mafia District Directorate.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Insurer Achmea Paid Bill Clinton $600,000 to Make a Speech
Dutch insurance company Achmea paid former US president Bill Clinton $600,000 to make a speech in Friesland in 2011, according to research by the Washington Post.
The fee — the equivalent of €440,000 — is one of the highest ever paid to Clinton who is much in demand as a public speaker.
The highest fee was $750,000, paid by mobile phone giant Ericsson in 2011, the Washington Post figures show.
The Dutch speech, in the Frisian village of Achlum where the company was founded, was to celebrate Achmea’s 200th anniversary at a conference on ‘the future of the Netherlands’.
According to the Volkskrant, in his speech Clinton called for a ‘unique Dutch answer to modern solidarity’.
Achmea, the biggest player on the Dutch health insurance market, declined to comment on the report, the Volkskrant says.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK Entertainer Rolf Harris Guilty of Abusing 4 Young Girls
‘Jekyll and Hyde character’
(ANSA) — Rome, June 30 — Australian-born UK singer, painter TV presenter and entertainer Rolf Harris, 84, was found guilty Monday of 12 counts of indecently assaulting four girls in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and will be sentenced on Friday.
Harris, 84, was said to be a “Jekyll and Hyde” character who used his “status and position” to abuse his victims, one as young as seven.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Five Things I Learned at Glastonbury Festival 2014
By James Delingpole
Excerpt: Oh the arrogance and self-delusion and intolerance of the left! They really do imagine that festivals ought to be the preserve of people only like them. Well, I’ve got some news for you, matey. All that renewable energy/trade /justice/sustainability/viva socialism stuff you see everywhere at Glastonbury: for most of us festivalgoers it’s just random window dressing. We’re there for the sex, drugs and rock n roll not the tedious politics. And the fact that you wouldn’t know who Skrillex was if he came and bit you on the bottom is very much your problem, not ours.
| — Hat tip: KP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Islamic Extremism Concerns at Tower Hamlets School
An east London primary school is at the centre of concerns over Islamic extremism, it has been revealed.
A Freedom of Information (FoI) request by BBC London shows Tower Hamlets Council holds information concerning the possible Islamification of Kobi Nazrul Primary School in Whitechapel…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Katie Hopkins Offends Entire Islamic Community by Posting Antagonising Tweets About Ramadan
THE gobby telly personality took to Twitter on Sunday night to express her views on the Islamic festival of fasting which begins today.
KATIE Hopkins is offending people again. This time the controversial TV personality has launched an attack on the entire Islamic community. Hopkins took to Twitter on Sunday night to express her views on the Islamic festival of fasting — Ramadan — which begins today.
“Ramadan typically brings a spike in violence in Middle East. I get grumpy when I don’t eat — but I don’t blow things up. Religion of peace?,” she tweeted…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Katie Hopkins Offends Islamic Communities With ‘Grumpy’ Ramadan Tweet
SHE’S KNOWN for courting controversy but Katie Hopkins appears to have out-done herself with her latest Twitter rant.
The 39-year-old former reality TV star opened up on her feelings about Islamic festival Ramadan.
Muslims worldwide will be observing a month of fasting as it is now the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Katie tweeted on Sunday evening: “Ramadan typically brings a spike in violence in Middle East. I get grumpy when I don’t eat — but I don’t blow things up. Religion of peace?”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Blasts Kill Two Policemen Near Cairo Presidential Palace
(AGI) Cairo, June 30 — Two Egyptian police officers were killed on Monday in two bomb explosions near the presidential palace in Cairo. A colonel died and three others were wounded when the first device went off. A second bomb went off as security forces tried to defuse it following an anonymous tip off. A bomb disposal officer was killed and four injured.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Cairo Palace Bombs Kill 2 Police on Protest Anniversary
Three blasts near a presidential palace in Cairo killed two police officers and wounded at least seven people in attacks coinciding with the first anniversary of protests that led to President Mohamed Mursi’s ouster…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Libya Finances Islamic Militias, Says Its UN Ambassador
(AGI) Tunis, June 30 — The Libyan government finances Islamic militias, Libya’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Dabbashi, told the newspaper Quryna. “I hope that there will be a new parliament capable of protecting itself and keep away from these groups,” he said. “Unfortunately we know that behind the murder of the Benghazi lawyer, there is an Islamic group because a video is circulating on the Internet showing Islamic militants close to her house a few minutes before the murder,” he said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Exposing Hamas’ Kidnapping Strategy: An Interview With Dan Diker
by Lisa Benson and Jerry Gordon
On June 12th, three youths, 16 year old American-Israeli Naftali Frenkel and two Israelis, Gilad Shaar, 16 and Eyal Yifrach, 19 were abducted while hitchhiking home from religious school in the Gush Etzion bloc between Bethlehem and Hebron. According to a Washington Post report, one of the abductees got off a cell call saying, “we’ve been kidnapped.” Hamas is believed to be behind their abduction. At a June 15th Cabinet meeting, Israeli PM Netanyahu said:
Those who perpetrated the abduction of our youths were members of Hamas; the same Hamas that Abu Mazen (Abbas) made a unity government with. This has severe repercussions.On June 26th Shin Bet, Israel’s General Security Service released the names of two prime suspects in the kidnapping of the three youths. They are Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisheh. Known Hamas operatives in the Hebron area. They disappeared about the time of the kidnapping on June 12th.
June 30th, the IDF recovered in a field north of Hebron the bodies of the three Israeli abductees Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach likely slain by Hamas suspects.
PM Netanyahu issued a statement saying:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Israelis Find Three Bodies Believed to be Those of Missing Youths, Officials Say
Israeli military searchers found three bodies believed to be those of the missing Israeli teenagers who disappeared more than two weeks ago in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, senior government officials said Monday. The Israeli government called an emergency Cabinet meeting.
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity before the official announcement, said the Army had found the three bodies buried “in a field near Hebron” and were waiting to inform the families before releasing information.
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Israel Confirms Bodies of Missing Israeli Teens Found
Near Hebron. May have been killed right after kidnapping
(ANSAmed) — ROME, JUNE 30 — The Israeli governmant has confirmed that the bodies of the three kidnapped teenagers have been found near Hebron in the West Bank. An emergency meeting of the government has been called.
According to channel 10 tv, the bodies were on the ground, partially hidden by some bushes, and not buried. Early results of the Army investigation — according to Israeli media — seem to indicate that the three youths Eyal Yifrah (19), Gilad Shaar (16) and Naftali Fraenkel (16) were killed immediately after their kidnapping.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Finds Bodies of Three Missing Teens in West Bank
(Reuters) — Israeli forces found the bodies of three missing teenagers in the occupied West Bank on Monday after a nearly three-week-long search and a sweep against the Islamist Hamas group that Israel says abducted them.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned his security cabinet for a special session that could decide on stronger military moves against Hamas, which has neither confirmed nor denied the Israeli allegations.
“There can be no forgiveness for the killers of children and those who sent them. Now is the time to act,” Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Launches Airstrikes Against Targets in Gaza Strip
The Israeli air force on Tuesday morning launched strikes against 34 targets in the Gaza Strip in response to rockets fired upon communities in southern Israel.
The airstrikes reportedly targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad assets in the strip, the Jerusalem Post reported. Palestinian media sources reported at least four people wounded in the airstrikes and several power outages throughout the Gaza Strip, the Jerusalem Post reported, though there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Southern Israel has come under intermittent rocket fire since the Gaza Strip came under Hamas control in 2007.
Tuesday’s airstrikes were a response to a barrage of 18 rockets fired into Israel since late Sunday, the IDF said…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Jewish-Arab City of Lod Up in Arms Over Mosque Demolition Order
Arab population threatens and incites over order against illegal building addition, municipality postpones demolition
A demolition order announced on illegal additions to a mosque has heightened tensions in Lod, a mixed Jewish and Arab city in the coastal region to the south of Tel Aviv.
The city, which has been plagued by Arab crime and harassment of the Jewish community, was compared by visiting MKs in 2010 to the town of Sderot that has been beleaguered by rocket fire by Gaza terrorists, given the palpable fear induced by the crime…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Netanyahu Vows ‘Hamas Will Pay’ After Bodies of 3 Kidnapped Israeli Teens Found
Israel weighed its options Monday following the discovery of the bodies of three teens kidnapped June 12 in the West Bank, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing, “Hamas will pay.”
The bodies of the youths — including one with U.S. citizenship — were found just north of Hebron.
“They were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by animals,” Haaretz quoted Netanyahu as saying at a hastily arranged security cabinet meeting.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Three Bodies Found in Hebron Feared to be Missing Israelis
(AGI) Doha, June 30 — The Israeli army recovered three bodies near Hebron on Monday. The corpses could be the remains of the three young Jewish settlers who disappeared on June 12 in the West Bank, and who were thought to have been kidnapped, reported pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
What Will Israel Do With ISIS on Its Doorstep?
Yesterday, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) declared a Caliphate to be ruled under Sharia in the lands it has conquered in Syria and Iraq. Jerusalem-based Dan Diker on yesterday’s Lisa Benson Show, on the Salem Radio Network was in the midst of a discussion with Mudar Zahran about the ISIS threat with “Jordan in its gunsight”, listen here. He commented that the announcement should be viewed as a political statement to Al Qaeda and its leader Ayman al Zawihiri.
Zahran noted that Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) had morphed into ISIS. AQI founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a Jordanian from Zarqa who became self indoctrinated, joined Al Qaeda in Afghanistan in 1990’s and ran his own Jihadi training center. He established brutal barbaric assaults in Iraq in 2005 engaging against US military and contractors, and Shia Iraqis that set a precedent for ISIS. al-Zarqawi was killed in a 2006 USAF -F16a bombing attack at a targeted safe house in Iraq.
The ISIS declaration was also a statement to other Sunni terrorist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine, Hamas. The Algemeiner reported ISIS flags were flying this weekend on pickup trucks in Gaza for a funera;l an indication that it was operating there. Conquering large swaths of terrain, looting upwards of a billion dollars worth of money and gold, capturing US supplied Humvees and Blackhawk helicopters abandoned by a corrupt and incompetent Iraqi Army have morphed ISIS into an Islamic State with its own army. Diker cited the abduction of three Israel youths, including one American, by Hamas the prime suspects sought in the massive Operation Brother’s Keeper as evidence that no security for Israel could have emerged from the US facilitated negotiations…
http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm/blog_id/54775
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
White House’s ‘Condolences’ For Murdered Israeli Teens Will Not be Enough
by Phyllis Chesler
My heart is broken, absolutely broken. Words never fail me but at this moment, only words feel inadequate, even inappropriate. I am, of course, talking about the discovery of three dead bodies which once belonged to three beautiful Israeli souls: Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel, and Eyal Yifrach.
This is a time for tears but also a time for some very serious decisions. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has confirmed that “Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay. He added that the teenagers were “kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by wild beasts.”
The French foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, is “deeply shocked and upset” by the murder of these boys. He also expressed “horror” and indignation.”
President Obama expressed his “deepest condolences” to the family of the slain teenagers. He added: “I also urge all parties to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation.” President Obama did not accuse Hamas of this despicable act nor did he say our government would assist Israel in its search for security and justice.
White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, said: “We obviously condemn in the strongest possible terms violence that takes the lives of innocent civilians.”…
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At Least 100 Danes Have Fought in Syria
The Center for Terror Analysis estimates that at least 15 Danes have died while fighting in the Syrian civil war. Those who come back alive can recruit others and use their military training against domestic targets, the analysis warned.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Army in Tug-of-War Fights With Sunni Militants
BAGHDAD, June 30 (Xinhua) — Iraqi security forces on Monday continued their battles against Sunni militant groups in Salahudin province, as an al-Qaida offshoot group declared the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq and Syria.
Earlier in the day, helicopter gunships pounded a neighborhood in the center of the city of Baiji, some 200 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, leaving six people dead and up to 13 wounded along with damaging five houses and two shops, a Salahudin provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Crisis: Fighting in Tikrit After ‘Caliphate’ Declared
Fresh clashes have been reported between jihadist-led Sunni rebels and government forces around the Iraqi city of Tikrit.
Witnesses said there had been a wave of air strikes and that former President Saddam Hussein’s palace had been hit. A local source told the BBC the rebels had meanwhile seized parts of a nearby military base in a counter-attack…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: ISIS Kidnaps Yezidis, Ask for Ransom
A group claiming to be the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) has reportedly kidnapped 24 civilians from the town of Sinjar, west of Mosul.
A security source from the Yezidi-majority Sinjar told BasNews that 24 people were kidnapped by ISIS. The kidnappers are allegedly asking for ransoms.
The source said that the victims were mostly Kurdish Yezidis working as border guards.
“ISIS has asks for $1.2 million to free the civilians,” said the source on condition of anonymity.
In the past two days Yezidi activists have urged the Kurdistan Regional Government to make an effort to free the prisoners and have campaigned to collect money to pay for the ransom.
A relative of one of the victims told BasNews that someone called via mobile phone saying: “I’m from ISIS and we ask for $50,000 to free a single prisoner.”
This comes one week after the extremist group kidnapped 21 Kurdish Shabak in the Gokjali area of eastern Mosul.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: After 1600 Years, Church Bells Are Silent in Mosul
Last Sunday, for the first time in 1600 years, no mass was celebrated in Mosul. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) seized Iraq’s second largest city on June 10, causing most Christians in the region to flee in terror, in new kinship with the torment of Christ crucified on the cross. The remnant of Mosul’s ancient Christian community, long inhabitants of the place where many believe Jonah to be buried, now faces annihilation behind ISIS lines. Those who risk worship must do so in silence, praying under new Sharia regulations that have stilled every church bell in the city.
The media has largely ignored the horrifying stories that are emerging from Mosul. On June 23, the Assyrian International News Agency reported that ISIS terrorists entered the home of a Christian family in Mosul and demanded that they pay the jizya (a tax on non-Muslims). According to AINA, “When the Assyrian family said they did not have the money, three ISIS members raped the mother and daughter in front of the husband and father. The husband and father was so traumatized that he committed suicide.”
Although few reports from ISIS-occupied Iraq can be corroborated, the group’s record of torture chambers, public executions, and crucifixions lends credibility to nightmarish accounts from the ground. Since the fall of Mosul, a litany of evils has replaced the liturgies of the Christians there: a young boy ripped from the arms of his parents as they ran from the ISIS advance and shot before their eyes, girls killed for not wearing the hijab.
Small wonder that since the fall of Mosul, tens of thousands of defenseless civilians have fled the ISIS onslaught, including the region’s Christians, whose presence on the Nineveh plains dates back to the earliest centuries of Christianity. Most have left their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs…
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by Jillian C. York
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a Sunni militant group, now holds territory in Syria and Iraq that is roughly the size of Belgium. But it’s also gaining ground on the Internet.
ISIL’s presence on social media is quite sophisticated and relies on strategies that “inflate and control its message,” wrote J.M. Berger in the Atlantic. In addition to maintaining accounts on popular social media sites, ISIL, also known as ISIS, launched its own app in the Google Play store (now removed) and has utilized hashtags on Twitter to “focus-group messaging and branding concepts, much like a Western corporation might.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Deputy PM: There is International Support for Separate Sunni Region
According to the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, Iraq cannot remain united due to the continuous marginalization of Sunnis by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government.
Mutlaq said that the idea of establishing a Sunni region in Iraq was previously rejected, but following recent events the idea has garnered the support of many Sunnis.
He noted that the current situation and Iraq’s instability has pushed Sunnis to gain internal, regional and international support for a separate Sunni region.
According to Mutlaq the only way to stop a war from happening is to replace Maliki with someone willing to push for a political agreement between all of Iraq’s political parties.
Mutlaq stressed that a dark chapter for Iraq is likely to begin and that the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) is likely to enter Baghdad: “ISIS attacks won’t stop if the federal government of Iraq doesn’t call on parties or people that are not affiliated to ISIS to find a political solution.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
ISIL Has No Right to Long History of Islam
Muslim scholars should dismiss the leaders of the so-called ‘Islamic State’
The murderers and terrorists in charge of The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have sought to increase their legitimacy by declaring their transitory and horrific domination of parts of Iraq and Syria to be a new Islamic caliphate. They have outraged Muslims throughout the world by changing the name of their organisation to “Islamic State”, thereby making the false and dangerous claim that they are the only genuine Muslim state and that their leader is “the caliph” and “leader for Muslims everywhere”, adding a series of extravagant titles designed to reinforce his claim…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Sending 200 American Troops to Iraq to Secure US Embassy, Airport
President Obama announced Monday that he is sending approximately 200 American troops to Iraq to reinforce security at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the Baghdad International Airport, as the country wages a bloody battle against jihadists.
The troops will serve a different mission in Iraq than the 275 advisory troops sent to Iraq earlier this month in response to advances by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant/Syria (ISIS). The additional troops will serve to solely augment security.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Robert Fisk Mocks Obama on ‘Moderate’ Syria Rebels
British journalist and writer Robert Fisk has scoffed at US President Barack Obama’s double-edged view of the terrorists in Syria and Iraq calling them “moderate” in Syria to whom he recently granted 500 million dollars in aid, while warning against their threat in Iraq.
In an article published by the Independent under the title “Syrian ‘moderates’ aren’t so moderate in Iraq”, Fisk said “Well, God bless Barack Obama — he’s found some ‘moderate’ rebels in Syria. Enough to supply them with weapons and training worth $500m. Congress wants to arm these brave freedom fighters, you see. “
“And Obama,” he added, “having sent his 300 elite Spartan lads to Iraq to help [Iraqi PM] Nouri al-Maliki fight the rebels there, needs to send help to the rebels in Syria.”
Fisk described Obama’s contradictory classifications of terrorists in the neighboring countries as “confusing”, asking “how do you actually find a ‘moderate these days in Syria’s war? The extremist militants fight to the death. No ‘moderates’ they.
“Who are the ‘moderate’ rebels whom Obama wants to train and arm?,” he asked, and made a bid to offer an explanation by saying that Obama “doesn’t name them — and he can’t, because the original ‘moderates’ whom America swore to arm (with the help of the CIA, the Brits, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey) were the so-called ‘Free Syrian Army’, mostly composed of deserters from Assad’s government forces.”
He pointed out that the so-called FSA has decomposed and “switched to the bearded extremistss of the Nusra Front or the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)” because “they weren’t given enough weapons, we are told.”
“Now they’ll get more. And no doubt sell them — as they did the last lot,” Fisk added, a fact acknowledged by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel who admitted that “weapons given to Syrian rebels had fallen into the hands of the bad guys.”
“These are the very same rebels now threatening the Iraqi state,” he proclaimed.
According to reports, Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — are supporting the insurgents operating inside Syria.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: Shiite Minister Named in First
After Iraqi crisis, deputy defence minister removed Saturday
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT — For the first time in the history of the Saudi kingdom, Saudi authorities have appointed a Shiite minister, the pan Arab television al Arabia edited by the House of Saud reports. The broadcaster said that Muhammad ben Faysal Abusaq was appointed minister for the affairs of the Shura, a consultative council with no legislative power.
Last Saturday, Saudi King Abdallah removed deputy defence minister, Prince Khaled ben Bandar ben Abdelaziz at the request of the minister Salman ben Abdelaziz.
Local analysts said Saudi Arabia is concerned over the offensive of al Qaeda-inspired militants in an increasingly volatile Iraq nearby, torn by sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites.
For years, the Saudi Shiite minority concentrated in the oil-rich eastern regions, has been discriminated by Riyadh’s authorities. The appointment of a Shiite minister could be a sign of détente to avoid a fitna (rift) amid Muslims in the Gulf kingdom , observers say.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS has formally declared the establishment of a caliphate, or Islamic state, in the vast stretches of the Middle East that have fallen under its control, and has outlined a vision to expand into Europe.
The announcement was described as the ‘most significant development in international jihadism since 9/11’.
Upon declaring a caliphate, the Sunni militants — whose brutality in attempting to establish control in Iraq and Syria has been branded too extreme even by Al Qaeda — demanded allegiance from Muslims around the world.
With brutal efficiency, ISIS has carved out a large chunk of territory that has effectively erased the border between Iraq and Syria and laid the foundations of its proto-state.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Personnel in Bahrain Prepare for Ramadan
MANAMA, Bahrain — U.S. personnel accustomed to drinking their coffee on the drive to work will have to put that habit on hold for about a month. It’s one of a few lifestyle changes Americans will have to make during the holy month of Ramadan…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Now revived by the jihadists of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), this old-new political-religious entity has become a potent weapon in a digital propaganda war
Caliphate (“succession” in Arabic) is an institution first created in the 7th century after the death of the prophet Muhammad. Now revived by the jihadists of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), this old-new political-religious entity has been given its own hashtag, #CaliphateRestored — a potent weapon in a digital propaganda war…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
India Successfully Launches PSLV C-23 Rocket Carring Five Foreign Satellites
MUMBAI, June 30 (Xinhua) — Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday successfully launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C-23 rocket at 9:52 a.m. local time with five foreign satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota of south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived at Sriharikota on Sunday, witnessed the rocket launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Yogyakarta: To Cries of “Allah is Great” Unknown Assailants Attack Sacred Heart Parish
Three groups of unidentified persons on board motorcycles, launch attack during mass. Objects and posters damaged. Reasons for the violence unknown. Tighter controls around the place of worship. After decades of peaceful coexistence, Yogyakarta becomes center of anti-Christian violence and abuse.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — Another Catholic community is now under attack in Indonesia in a climate of increasing cases of violence and abuse against religious minorities.
The Parish of the Sacred Heart in Pugeran, in the South of Yogyakarta was targeted early yesterday morning by three different groups of unknown assailants on motorcycles. The attack took place during the first morning Mass: the authors, dressed in black with their faces covered by masks, broke through the parish gates shouting “Allah is great”.
The incident coincides with the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer which officially began today in Indonesia, although it started on June 28th in most Muslim countries.
According to reports from Fr. Priya Pr, Sacred Heart parish priest, the unknown assailants targeted some objects and posters placed by members of the local Catholic community, most of which are only displayed on the weekend during the celebrations. The reasons behind the attack remain unknown; the authorities have tightened controls around the Christian place of worship, in fear of more attacks.
Last month in Yogyakarta, Islamic extremists attacked a group of Catholics gathered in prayer, beating up the community leader; a week later, Pastor Niko, leader of the Protestant Christian community, was targeted by extremists “accused” of having set up an “illegal” house of prayer without permission.
Yoguakarta, in central Java, has always been considered the most “pluralistic” center in the country, with dozens of universities and thousands of students from across the province. However, after decades of peaceful coexistence, episodes of sectarian violence have recently emerged, despite appeals for calm and peaceful coexistence from the Sultan (and governor) Hamengku Buwono X, a prominent figure in interreligious dialogue.
Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world. Increasingly however, it has become the scene of attacks or episodes of intolerance against minorities, whether they are Christians, Ahmadi Muslims or belong to other faiths.
Aceh is the only Indonesian province where Sharia (Islamic law) is enforced, following a peace agreement between the central government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Yet, in many other areas of the country (such as Bekasi and Bogor in West Java), a more radical and extreme vision of Islam is spreading among ordinary Indonesians.
Certain rules such as the infamous building permit (Izin Mendirikan Bangunan or IMB in Indonesian) have been used to prevent the construction of Christian places of worship or stop construction already underway, as was the case for the Yasmin Church in West Java.The constitution provides for freedom of religion, however, the Catholic community (3% of the population) is victim of incidents of violence and abuse.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Man Dies in Thailand Mosque Attack
A group of gunmen opened fire at a mosque in Thailand’s insurgency-plagued south, killing one man and injuring another after the start of Ramadan.
Police Colonel Panyawat Petchum said an unknown number of suspected insurgents armed with rifles fired multiple shots into the mosque in the Panare district in Pattani province where about a dozen Muslims were praying…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
China: Wary Beijing Orders Police Gun Training
BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) — Beijing’s security chief has called for more firearms training for SWAT officers patrolling a city with its eyes wide open for terrorist attacks.
China’s vice minister of public security and head of Beijing Public Security Bureau Fu Zhenghua on Saturday urged officers to make sure that they are ready to “deal a deadly blow to enemies at the critical time”.
Fu asked them to be well prepared and maintain stability in the city, as he visited police stations and SWAT checkpoints along Beijing’s main drag, Chang’an Avenue on Saturday, talking to officers…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
China: Police Ends Xinjiang Anti-Terror Drills
BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) — Chinese police on Monday concluded large-scale anti-terror drills in Xinjiang.
The week-long drills were held in six major cities and prefectures including Kashgar and capital city Urumqi, focusing on practice of responses to violent attacks in public places, hijackings and explosions.
Various corps from local military headquarters, national anti-terror commandos as well as armed police forces participated in the maneuver.
China launched a year-long crackdown on terrorism in the Uygur autonomous region after a bomb attack killed 39 people in an Urumqi market in May…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
China Jails 113 for Terrorism in Xinjiang Mass Trial
Chinese courts in the far west, ethnic region of Xinjiang have imprisoned 113 people for terrorism or other charges
Courts in China’s ethnically-divided Xinjiang, home to mainly Muslim Uighurs, have sentenced 113 people to jail on mostly terrorism-related offences, state-run media said, as authorities press a crackdown following several deadly attacks…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Japan: Man Seriously Wounded After Suicidal Action Against Collective Defense
TOKYO, June 29 (Xinhua) — A man was badly injured after burning himself Sunday at the crowded Shinjuku train station in Japan’s capital Tokyo in a move to protest against the Japanese government’s attempt to exercise the rights to collective self- defense, according to local media.…
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A MOSQUE in Bendigo will generate millions of dollars for the city each year, say local business leaders.
The Australian Islamic Mission wants to build the two-storey mosque, to hold up to 375 worshippers, on Rowena St in East Bendigo. Bendigo Council received more than 400 objections to the $3 million mosque.
Most of the objections relate to concerns over the influence of Islam, the threat of terrorism, the introduction of Sharia law, and the dilution of Christian values…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Boko Haram Slaughters 50 Christians in Northern Nigeria
(AGI) Lagos, June 30 — Boko Haram militants slaughtered 50 Christians in churches in the northern Nigerian state of Borno, reported local sources. The Islamic fundamentalist fighters attacked with bombs and fired indiscriminately inside the churches in the villages of Kautikari, Kwada and Neuragali. The attackers burst in as mass was being celebrated at 8.45 a.m.
local time and chased survivors as they fled. At least five churches were set on fire and destroyed. The attacks shed new doubts on the anti-terrorism offensive launched by Nigerian security forces in the northeast, which has been the backdrop to Boko Haram’s rebellion during the past five years.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Australia: Tamil Asylum Seeker Boat May be Forced Back
Tamil asylum seekers believed to have been intercepted on a stricken fishing vessel off Christmas Island might be forcibly returned directly to south Asia by the Australian government.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday night the government was prepared to talk with any country to enforce its policy of stopping boats from reaching Australia…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Crisis Unit Meets as 1,171 Immigrants Land in South Italy
(AGI) Taranto, June 30 — A crisis unit met on Monday to organise assistance a few hours after 1,171 immigrants arrived in Taranto, southern Italy. Another 500 places are needed to accommodate the arrivals in the city and surrounding province.
The unit, which includes representatives of Taranto City Council and others involved in previous landings, was set up on Sunday, a few hours after the immigrants arrived.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU Says No New Funds for Migrants Off Italy
Pressure on Europe rises after 30 die in crossing
(ANSA) — Brussels, June 30 — The EU is looking for ways “to contribute more” financially to migrant rescues off Italy, but only “with respect to existing resources”, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Monday. German President Joachim Gauck urged greater help for Italy earlier Monday after roughly 30 bodies were found aboard the latest migrant boat to arrive off Sicily. Reciprocity on asylum seekers and migrants was scratched from EU summit conclusions last week under strong pressure from northern European members.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Northern League Says Renzi Has Migrant Blood on Hands
‘Stop crossings now’ demands Salvini
(ANSA) — Rome, June 30 — The head of the anti-immigrant Northern League said the government had blood on its hands after it emerged Monday that 30 people died in an overnight migrant crossing from North Africa to Italy. “Stop crossings, help them at home now!” said Matteo Salvini on Facebook. “The shirts of (Premier Matteo) Renzi and (Interior Minister Angelino) Alfano are stained with blood”. Nearly 600 passengers were aboard the boat intercepted by the navy, officials said, adding the dead victims on board likely asphyxiated.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘Moral Imperative’ To Rescue Migrants — Mogherini
Must do it with EU ‘rationally’ says FM
(ANSA) — Rome, June 30 — There is a “moral imperative” to rescue migrants at sea and Italy and the EU must decide how best “to do it together,” Foreign Minister Fedreica Mogherini said Monday after the latest disaster claimed 30 lives. Italy had thus far done the job “almost alone”, she said, stressing that there was “no alternative” to rescuing migrants. “The point is how to do all together rationally,” the diplomatic chief said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: An Infected Migrant to be Hospitalized in Catania
(AGI) Palermo, June 30 — A case of suspected infectious disease “falling under the WHO international health regulations” was identified during the rescue operation of a stranded boat, conducted by the Italian Navy patrol boat “Orione”. The migrant was part of a group of 396 expected to be delivered to Messina and was later diverted to a better equipped Catania hospital.
The patient has been quarantined on board, according to routine diagnostic procedures.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Rescues 1,600 Migrants in 48 Hours
Over 1,600 migrants were rescued in the last 48 hours in the Strait of Sicily, Italian navy said on Monday.
Between 27 and 30 people were found dead aboard a craft carrying 590 immigrants that was rescued by a military vessel on Sunday night, the navy added. They were believed to have suffocated in the overcrowded boat.
The exact number of victims was still unclear on Monday, since the bodies were lying in the narrowest part of the ship and were impossible to reach, ANSA news agency reported.
With these latest rescue operations carried out by navy and coast guard in the Mediterranean Sea, the total number of migrants arrived to Italy from African coasts reached 60,000 since January 2014. Authorities seemed to expect this inflow to exceed a record high number of 100,000 people by the end of the year…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Navy Finds 30 Corpses in Migrant Boat
ROME (AP) — The bodies of some 30 would-be migrants were found in in the hold of a packed smugglers’ boat making its way to Italy, the Italian navy said Monday.
The boat was carrying nearly 600 people, and the remaining 566 survivors were rescued by the navy frigate Grecale and were headed to the port at Pozzallo, on the southern tip of Sicily…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Malmström Deplores the Recent Loss of Life in the Mediterranean
European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, said she deplores the recent loss of life in the Mediterranean. Today, about 30 bodies have been found in a migrant boat stopped between Sicily and the North African coast. The immigrants apparently died of asphyxiation, the news agencies said.
Commissioner Malmström said about the tragedy: “I deplore the recent loss of life in the Mediterranean and I express all my sympathy to the victims and their families. I would also like to thank the Italian authorities for their impressive efforts that led to the rescue of around 5000 people in the last days.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Traveling From North Africa Found Dead on Sicily-Bound Boat
At least 30 dead bodies were found on a boat full of migrants bound for the southern Sicilian port town of Pozzallo, Italian navy officials and the coastguard said Monday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
More Than 65,000 Illegal Immigrants to Italy Already in 2014
Total illegal immigration already exceeds 2011 previous record
(ANSA) — Rome, June 30 — As many as 65,000 illegal immigrants already have arrived in Italy by sea this year, more than in the entire previous record year of 2011, the Interior ministry said Monday.
In 2011 some 63,000 illegal immigrants were recorded but ministry statisticians predict that as many as 100,000 could land on the peninsula and its islands in 2014 unless action is taken in countries such as Libya to prevent departures of Africans and others trying to reach Europe illegally, the ministry said.
In all 61,585 foreigners have landed in Italy this year while nearly 5000 others will be dropped off in Italian ports over the next two days after they were rescued in the Mediterranean over the past 24 hours by Italian Navy ships deployed to help clandestine immigrants as part of Operation Mare Nostrum and by Italian merchant ships, the ministry said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
by Simon Waxman
Resistance to the Washington Redskins team name has ebbed and flowed over the years, but thanks in part to letters from 50 senators to the team’s owner, Dan Snyder, and last week’s decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to rescind the team’s trademark registration, the campaign to get rid of it has renewed urgency…
In the United States today, the names Apache, Comanche, Chinook, Lakota, Cheyenne and Kiowa apply not only to Indian tribes but also to military helicopters. Add in the Black Hawk, named for a leader of the Sauk tribe. Then there is the Tomahawk, a low-altitude missile, and a drone named for an Indian chief, Gray Eagle. Operation Geronimo was the end of Osama bin Laden.
Why do we name our battles and weapons after people we have vanquished?…
So, sure, rename the football team. But don’t stop there.
Waxman is managing editor of Boston Review.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: School Governors: Abolish Rules on Christian Assemblies
The National Governors’ Association calls for the abolition of the 70-year-old rule that requires schools to hold a Christian assembly every day, saying it is “meaningless”
Laws requiring schools to hold a religious assembly every day should be scrapped because they are “meaningless” in a multicultural society, according to school governors.
The National Governors’ Association said the 70-year-old legislation — requiring pupils to take part in a “broadly Christian” act of daily collective worship — should be abolished in non-religious schools amid concerns the rules are no longer fit for a 21st century education system…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
“They” are meaningless! Not Christianity….
“They” are manipulating schools to hold Islamic services…..
God when will this country[ reach its full reproductive maturity]? And tell these Islamophile atheists to go to where they belong?
Hell or Saudia Arabia?
All due respect Bishop, but this non-islamophile atheist believes no religious services should have a place in British schools.
“Hell or Saudia Arabia?”
Neither. Every politicians in the west has said, ” Muslims are here to stay.” when they hears that native people were complaining about muslim mistreatment of them. The first time in history we notice traitors being elected to rule us. Why are the British politicians so in bed with muslims? Politicians imported them as a commodity, and as voters, that’s why they will stay. Welfare money is being used to strengthen muslim muscles and wits to rout the infidels. What a great democracy!
“Michigan soccer ref dies after being punched during game”
No points for correct guesses.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/01/michigan-ref-brutally-punched-during-game-in-critical-condition/